The magnitude of the Gayatri Mantra

The chanting of Mantra has a powerful and profound effect on the whole system, physically, energetically and mentally.  It starts to uplift our vibratory level and cleanse through our energy centers that will certainly be holding blockages from our life experiences.  Mantra - meaning Man or coming from manas - the mind and tra to free, the chanting of mantra is literally a way to free ourselves from the bondages of our mental waves, and physical limitations.  

The Gayatri Mantra is a universal mantra, a purposeful and powerful connection between divine intuition and awakening of our true intellect.  It first appeared in written form in the Rig Veda between 1100 - 1700 BCE.  It is stated that it is the poem of the divine and chanting this glorious enriching mantra firmly establishes the mind and brings joy and happiness.

Aum
Bhur Bhuvah Svah
Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yo nah Prachodayat

In meaning it is connecting to existence absolute, the creator of the three dimensions, that of past, present and future, or creation, destruction and preservation, or purity, movement and inertia.  We contemplate upon divine light that it stimulates our intellect and bestows on us true knowledge.  Or in other terms - O Divine Mother, we have darkness in our hearts, please make the darkness distant from us and bring illumination, wisdom and knowledge within us.

Aum, the vital vibration that feels the whole universe.  It is sum and substance of all the words that ever emanate from the human throat or all sounds of sounds.  It is sound symbol of the universal absolute.

Bhur Bhuvah Svah, literally means past, present and future - giving knowledge of the whole cosmos and illuminates the 3 regions of existence.  

Tat, that ultimate reality

Savitur, Divine sun - ultimate wisdom

Varenyam, to adore

Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi, we ask for divine grace and contemplate the intellect 

Dhiyo yo nah Prachodayat, we are praying or urging that knowledge and intellect to be illuminated.

In greatness it is a prayer for final liberation through the awakening of our intelligence, it increases our learning power, concentration and brings inner prosperity, eternal power, peace guiding us toward divine intuition. 

As we chant we express our gratitude to the life giving light and by chanting it is an offering to grace and to inspire ourselves, chant from the heart, chant from the soul and feel the effect through each part of your existence, as you can see from the image above the vibration of each part of the mantra is stimulating through the energy channels at particular parts of the body.  

Breath through every pore of you body the light of intelligence and wisdom.

Have beautiful days and beautiful practice

AUM shanti shanti shanti

Mangala / Nicky

A New Dream

A New Dream by Don Miguel Ruiz

I want you fo forget everything you have learned in your whole life.  This is the beginning of a new understanding, a new dream.  The dream you are living is your creation.  It is your perception of reality that you can change at any time.  You have the power to create hell, and you have the power to create heaven.  Why not dream a different dream?  Why not use your mind, your imagination, and your emotions to dream heaven?

Just use your imagination and a tremendous thing will happen.  Imagine that you have the ability to see the world with different eyes, you see the world around you in a different way.  Close your eyes now and then open them and look outside.  What you will see is love coming out of the trees, love coming out of the sky, love coming out of the light.  This is the state of bliss.

Beautiful words shared,  why create a horror story or even a thriller, create a love story everyday.  If times are challenging or we are in times of rejection - it is painful but use it - be open to it, observe it and evolve, be yourself, be strong and find the depths within your heart, catch your lightness of being.  

Yoga Mangala is currently in Casablanca and is offering classes at my temporary home shala and also at Yogablanca - Val D'Anfa studio and Temps Danse - Bouskoura.  Kindly email me for details nickymangala@gmail.com

Also I have my little Ugandan Tribe based in Kampala running sessions around the city and at Boutabika Hospital.  Enquiries nickymangala@gmail.com

Find your lightness of being by giving yourself permission to be loved

shanti shanti shanti 

mangala / Nicky 

Complete Relaxation is Vital.

Taking time in Savasana is essential for our wellbeing, to give complete relaxation for the body, the energy and the mental activity, to bring balance and harmony back.  We need complete and proper relaxation for the wellbeing of our whole system and this is the only way to take complete relaxation - lie down on your mat, a rug or even on your bed.  Take the legs mat distance apart and the arms around 45 degrees from the body, palms facing upward.  Allow the head to be inline with the spine, take a deep breath in and a long breath out, repeat a deep breath in and a long breath out and gently close the eyes.  Allow the breath to become natural and effortless.  Feel the back of your body and where the weight of your body is, where is your body at its most heavy?  Where is your body at its lightest.  Scan through your whole body from the toes upward to the top of your head and feel all the sensations within you, whatever they may be hold no judgement on them.  Then again feel your breath, the movement in your tummy and chest as you breathe through the nose.  Begin to completely relax, feeling a sense of letting your body deepen into the mat or become heavier or lighter, allowing your mind to stay connected to the relaxation, feel as if the clouds are dispersing leaving only blue skies.  Silently tell yourself - my toes are relaxed, my feet are relaxed, my legs, my knees, my hips are relaxed.  My back is relaxed, my spine is relaxed, my fingers, my hands, my arms are relaxed.  My shoulders are relaxed, my neck, my head, my face are relaxed.  My breath is relaxed, my mind is relaxed.  Shanti Shanti Shanti, peace peace peace.

Practice Savasana everyday to rejuvenate your system, bring a fresh outlook and greater clarity.

I am always honored to share the practice with people from all over the world, from all different cultures, all different upbringings, different circumstances, the young, the old, in schools, in hospitals, in studios, in fields, there is always a way and always time.

The journey may take different paths for different folk, they may use different names for different techniques or even the same techniques with different names!  But essentially where we are aiming to be is all in the same place, this place of oneness, where there is no bondage, the body, the energy, the mental waves are calm and in abiding peace.  There are no storms, no where else to be and nothing else to do, but to simply be resting in your true essence, your true nature, your true self.  This is the reason I practice Savasana every day and the reason that you should too.

Become the creator and create beautiful days

Shanti Shanti Shanti  - Peace Peace Peace

Please don't hesitate to contact me to find out about classes, locations, workshops etc, or how I can help.

From the heart

Mangala   /   Nicky

nickymangala@gmail.com

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Calming and comforting with Pashchimotanasana

Originally in the scriptures it is written that there were 8,400,000 asanas (Yogic postures.) Imagine trying to go through and remember so many in our self practice! Each one of those asanas key to alignment with the internal space and the external space - & the universe that surrounds us -representing a journey from our simplest form that with desires and attachment to our most subtlest - that with full realization of the true self.  Over time the great Yogis and Rishis modifies and reduced the number to the few hundred that are widely known of today, and actually out of these few hundred only 84 are the most useful, and applied in the proper way with intention and awareness begin to open our energy and psychic centres.  They are a body map to a higher awareness and existence and provide a stable foundation for exploration of the body, breath, mind and beyond.

One of these 84 is known as Pashchimotanasana - or the seated forward bend.  I have always fully appreciated this posture but recently it is like my internal self and body are calling for it.  For me I think it is finding the stability that I need being close to the earth and drawing the external energy inward as you fold forwards and really giving a foundation to turn the attention to the inner landscape.  It gives me time to really feel a complete stretch taking me to the edge of that stretch and sometimes going beyond, to feel the breath and tune to quietening the mind.  I find it incredibly calming and soothing - and gives me space to approach any mental tensions with clarity and allow them to dissipate.  It was in this asana and continually repeating this asana to build the awareness of it, muscle and mental strength, that I realized that if a situation also keeps repeating itself somewhere in your life then the lessons that you need to learn from it have not yet been understood, and only when we learn can we break the pattern and move on.  Everything we learn on the mat we can apply to our everyday situations and find what we need be it courage or strength or adaptability to deal with what it is and move forward or away.  I have a deep love for this posture - maybe you will find it too -

- Sit up with the legs straight out in front of you, feet together and flexing the toes upward toward the sky.  Keep the spine straight, top of the head lifted.

- Inhale and reach upward with the arms as much as possible to really find space in the spine and back.

- Retain the stretch then exhale and fold forwards from the hips leading with the chest.

- Keep the legs straight, the knees pushing down toward the mat, keep the back as straight as possible as you fold forward, drawing the abdomen up and inward; this will enable you to fold a little deeper.

- Keep the feet flexed do not permit them to fall outwards, let your hands either rest on your knees, shins, ankles of hold the tops of your feet depending on your flexibility.  

- Breathe deeply through the nose.

- Beginners may hold the asana for 30 seconds or so and then inhale as you lift yourself up and out of the pose, you can repeat several times.  More advanced students hold for longer periods of time gradually increasing as you progress.

-Make sure that the spine is not rounded and you are leading down with your chest and not the forehead.  If you have any low back issues then the knees can be a little bent or place a cushion under them.

-Awareness should be with slow and deep breathing and let that guide you directing the energy inward.

This posture gives a powerful massage and stimulates all of the abdominal viscera, especially the liver and spleen.  It tones all the digestive organs and improves digestion.  It helps to regulate pancreatic functions which control carbohydrate metabolism and blood sugar levels, it is a very valuable asana for diabetic patients.  The entire nervous system is invigorated, joints are mobilised, the spine becomes elastic and body keept youthful.  Regular practice helps to bring relief for sciatica and any compression of the spine.  It stretches the hamstrings bring elasticity and increases flexibility in the hips.  From a pranic point of view over time it allows the vital life force to flow through the sushumna nadi running through the spine unblocking blockages and allowing us to let go of the things that no longer serve us any purpose.

Amazing!

So have a beautiful practice 

Love always from the heart and wishing peace throughout the universe

Mangala / Nicky

International World Yoga Day

The profound practice and way of living - YOGA is a legacy that has been in practice for over 15000 years.  Since Adi Yogi - the first Yogi there have been many ways in which yoga has been spread and practiced, today it is being talked about in a major public and International forum on a huge scale.  And what is being discussed is about discovering oneness with ourselves, each other, nature and the whole world that surrounds us.  The world is beginning to listen!  And to start understanding that this yoga leads to ultimate wellbeing for not only ourselves as individuals but also for the whole planet.  This is a tremendous and hugely positive step.  177 countries voted together to bring about International world Yoga day.  These great and powerful practices that we call under one name of yoga have been going on for centuries, but possibly NOW are when they are most needed.  For the last 100 years or so we have been pulling apart and destroying this world and in turn ourselves, NOW is the time for change and reform, to live peacefully, gently in tune with each other and with all of nature, this yoga goes beyond everything - beyond culture, beyond different religions, countries and creeds - it is time we turn around - as Adi Yogi did on this day - the longest day 21st of June and turn inward, heal ourselves and the world around us.

I humbly take great pleasure in inviting you to a global move for harmony and peace with the practice of Surya Namaskar 108. Each salutation practiced will bring a beautiful ray of light for your heart and the universe. Practice will commence at 6pm GMT on Friday 21st June.  This is not a competitive practice to reach physically 108 salutations, rest when you need to and practice some rounds mentally until the body feels ready to again join the flow of movement.  Take yourself on a journey through the body, energy, thoughts and feelings; again moving into a pure satvic state and finally resting in your true self, that of compassion, calmness, peace and oneness.  

Have a beautiful practice to one and all, let us be one in our thoughts, hearts and deeds.

OM NAMAH SIVAYA    JAI JAI JAI

Love to one and all

Mangala / Nicky

Be a fruit upon the tree of humility

Oh Divine Consciousness

I have come to connect with you, to be with you

to unblock the blockages within me

To release the things that no longer serve me any value or purpose

To fill my heart with divine virtues.

Allow the trees to have peace and bring peace

And may we protect the trees

May the waters be pure and calming  and also have protection

May the herbs and fruits of the earth be nurturing and wholesome

May the earth feel love from us and us love from the earth.

May my heart be full of compassion, joy and perfect peace

May I have the strength to love and support my family and those that surround me

May I have the strength to love myself.

May I let go of fear and worry and be full of trust

I am calm, I am calm

I am peace, I am peace

I am love and I am light

I am perfect as I am

I am that, consciousness, existence and bliss

I am healing, I am healed.

I bow in gratitude for all the blessings I receive each day

I bow in gratitude for this wonderful gift of life.

I bow in gratitude.

Hari Om Tat Sat

Fasting Safely

Fasting is a powerful tool in restoring ones health, bringing a higher sense of awareness and regaining vitality.  An improper diet leads to disease of one shape or form, lethargy and mental imbalances such as mood swings, worry and depression.  In fact I strongly believe that so many of peoples problems are definitely diet related, and with gentle adjustments over time a greater sense of wellbeing and calmness can be regained just through the adaption of diet.

I see a problem today though when in modern society everything is instant and people expect great results in that same manor, patience and discipline seem to have been forgotten.  There is a tendency to jump from one sort of practice to another without giving one enough time and effort to see the results take shape and people give up or look for something else.

Fasting has been practiced for centuries and is part of all major religions, but has also become one of the many buzzwords in todays world, as well as spirituality and mindfulness.  Now it seems people are throwing themselves into fasts that can be violent on their system, becoming unwell, breaking the fast unapropriately which can cause shock to the digestive system and then slipping straight back to their old habits.

Fasting should be treated with the upmost respect and care and should be practiced under guidance and with the appropriate daily routine.  Done properly it can restore health where everything else has failed and gives nature a chance to cleanse the system, eliminate poisons and toxins from the system.  Through a sensible fast nature can go about its work at healing the whole system and the vital life force can be rekindled.  

There is a difference between fasting and starving and in no manor should there be a violent act against the body and mind that is only going to have a negative impact.  Fast sensibly, it should not be continued if you feel very weak or the heart becomes slow, and when breaking the fast it should be done slowly and carefully.

I love this Kicharee fast which is incredibly balancing and effective, very easy on the whole digestive system and a safe way to restore your health.

Take Kicharee around 10 or 10.30am, if you are hungry before this time then take some fruits such as apple or orange or a little fresh lemon juice.  And again take Kicharee in the evening before the sun sets around 6pm.  Fruit juice can be taken throughout the day and evening and make sure you drink plenty of water throughout the fast.  If you don't feel hungry then don't take the food, if you feel weak then take a little of the kicharee throughout the day as and when needed.  After 3 days some green leafy vegetables such as spinach or peas can be added to the evening meal.  

Fasting this way can be done for 1-3 days or longer depending on your individual needs.  

Begin each meal by giving thanks to the earth for providing and maintain a peaceful attitude whilst cooking and eating.  Maintain silence whilst eating and bring your full attention to the food.

Drink a little water before eating and then refrain from drinking during the meal and about an hour after or until you feel thirsty.  

Be mindful of how much you are eating - little is best, about a handful of food is the right amount. 

Enjoy the experience of eating.

KICHAREE RECIPE serves 4

300gm white basmati rice

2tsp sesame oil or organic ghee 

1/2 tsp each of black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ground tumeric, cumin and coriander

5cm chopped fresh ginger root

pinch of salt

chopped fresh coriander 

lemon or lime juice

Heat the oil, and the mustard and coriander seeds in a large pan, once the seeds begin to pop add the ginger and the rest of the spices for a couple of minutes, add 500ml of water and bring to the boil, then add the rice and cook for about 10 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the majority of the water and is soft.   The stew should be a little bit soupy.   Add a pinch of salt and the fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.  

Also you can add spinach at the last minute of cooking or fresh peas with the rice.  

Enjoy your Kicharee -  and take great care of yourselves as we are all very precious parts of life

Have beautiful days

AUM shanti shanti shanti 

Mangala  / Nicky